Refrigerator construction with latch and hinge means out of cold zone



March 11, 1941. E. HWEDMAN 2.234.847

REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION WITH LATCH AND HINGE MEANS OUT OF GOLD ZONE Filed Sept. 4, 1956 f r1? 'i 3 I l {L/3 a 31 10 I i 56 1 F .1 /B I 4= 5%? COLD ZONE I I 3 2 5 21 19g;

Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION HINGE MEANS OUT OF LATCH AND COL'D ZONE WITH ' Application September 4,1936, Serial No. 99,388

2 Claims.

This invention relates to modern types of refrigerators wherein the latch lock of the same is adapted to be concealed when the door of the refrigerator is closed and wherein the latch lock is positioned in relation to the body of the refrigerator and the door so that it will be outside of the cold zone to prevent filtration of cold or warm air through the latch look when the refrigerator is closed.

A feature resides in providing a refrigerator with a sealing means between the door and the body of the refrigerator which is spaced in from the margin of the body and the door. so as to provide a space wherein the latch lock may be 'set extending through the margin of the door and with the tongue of the latch lock projecting from the inside of the door so as to enter a recess and engage a keeper which is anchored in the body of the refrigerator.

In modern types of refrigerators and particularly those designed to provide a'neat appearance outwardly as well as inwardly of the re frigerator, it is desirable to provide a flush type door parallel the inner marginal surface which contacts the outer frame of the refrigerator extending virtually parallel to the outer casing and frame surface of the refrigerator body and with the door having approximately the same width as the body of the refrigerator. Thus the door in these modern types of refrigerators forms a front panel which extends over the entire front surface of the refrigerator and projects marginally about the opening into the refrigerating chamber. 1 I

In this type of refrigerator the sealing gasket which is made of rubber or other similar material and which is designed to fit into the margin of the door panel or may be anchored in the body of the refrigerator, is formed to provide a marginal sealing means spaced in from the periphery of the door and of the outer portion of the frame so as to provide a marginal space outside of the cold zone wherein the hinge for the door and the latch lock are positioned wholly outside of the cold zone. Since refrigerators have been designed with the modern structure wherein it is desirable to conceal the hardware, particularly the latch lock and also the hinges, it has been a problem to provide a construction wherein the latch lock and the hinges were positioned outside of the cold zone. This has been accomplished in this structureof refrigerator and has been found to be very desirable because it pre vents filtrationof warm air through the latch lock and yet permits the tongue of the lock to be entirely concealed between the margin of the door and the body of the refrigerator. The hinges are also concealed and are positioned outside of the cold zone. This is extremely important because it accomplishes a better result in permitting a seal to'be formed around the door and body of the refrigerator with the flush type door.

The sealing means is formed with a projecting hollow rib extending along the inner edge while the sealing means may act as a non-metallic breaker strip to connect the inner enamelled plate on the door with the outer enamelled plate which forms the outer covering for the door. The sealing means is preferably formed of rubber or other suitable flexible material and is of a strip-like nature. 'The tongue of the latch lock may pass through the flat portion ofthe sealing means outside of the hollow sealing rib, in-

suring the placing of the latch look outside of the cold zone. I

In the drawing forming part of this specificationz' Figure 1 is a perspective view of the refrigerator.

Figure 2 is a sectional detail, horizontally through a portion of the refrigerator, showing the position of the sealing means and the placing of the latch lock outside of the cold, zone.

Figure 3 is a perspective detail of a portion of the refrigerator, showing the tongue of the latch lock and the keeper which is recessed into the body of the refrigerator. N The refrigerator A is designed with an outer enamelled sheathing II) which covers the outer surface of the refrigerator and which is adapted to be connected by the non-metallic breaker strip II with the inner enamelled sheathing l2. The body or frame l3 of the refrigerator is made of insulating material and is formed of the desired shape so as to provide a refrigerating chamber 14 within the bodyand in which a suitable refrigerating unit or means may' be placed so as to refrigerate the chamber l4 ner.

closed by the door B. In the modern type of refrigerator A, the door B is .of. the flush .type wherein the inner surface I5 is adapted to extend parallel with the outer front surface l6 of the re- The refrigerating chamber is adapted to be strip i 9 may be made of any suitable non-metallic flexible material, and is adapted to extend approximately parallel with the front surface iii of the body of the refrigerator A. The door B is formed with insulating filler means so as to insulate the inner sheathing H from the outer, surface of the refrigerator A to provide a nonconductor of heat and cold between the sheathings l1 and i8.

The non-metallic gasket or sealing rubber strip i9 is formed with a width sufficient to space the edges of the sheathings I! and i8 apart, as illustrated in Figure 2, and may be formed with an intermediate strip-like portion 2| with integral projecting reinforcing ribs 22 extending longitudinally of the same. The edges of the strip i9 may'be formed with channels 23 which are adapted to receive the edges of the inner and outer sheathings I1 and'l8 to provide a substantial non-metallic connecting strip between the inner and outer enamelled sheathings i1 and I8 of the refrigerator A.

The strip i9 is adapted to be formed with a hollow projecting gasket rib 24 which extends longitudinally ofthe strip l9 and-is positioned toward the inside of the strip it) so as to provide a sealing gasket rib aroundthe opening into the chamber M. This rib 24 is adapted to contact the non-metallic connector Ii, that is, that portion extending in line with and forming the surface IE to provide a flexible rib-like sealing means spaced marginally from the outer edge of the door and the outer side surface of the refrigerator. The sealing member i9 virtually seals the refrigerating chamber 14 hermetically when the door B is closed so as to confine the cold zone within the chamber i4 and to provide a marginal space about the edge of the door outside of the cold zone.

The latch lock 25 is mounted in the marginal edge of the door B outside of the cold zone. The latch lock 25 is adapted to be operated by an outer handle 26 and is provided with a non-metallic latch tongue 21 which is adapted to engage the keeper 28 which is positioned countersunk into the body l3 of the refrigerator A, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. When the door B is closed, the sealing rib 24 will tightly contact the surface .l6 to seal the cold zone in the chamber l4 and with the latch lock 25 positioned outside of the cold zone there can be no filtration of warm or cold air through the latch lock as was true of old types of refrigerators where the lock was concealed. Thus the latch lock 25 is not subject to change in temperatures and will operate more perfectly, and further, a better seal is provided for the chamber M by the gasket sealing strip H! which also provides a non-metallic connecting means which is a non-conductor for the sheathings l1 and IS.

The hinge pins 29 are also positioned outside of the cold zone in view of the sealing gasket [9 with its inwardly spaced marginal gasket rib 24 and yet the hinge pins 29 are concealed so as not to be exposed to outer appearance. The line of seal of the hollow gasket rib 24 is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1,' to show the sealing position of the rib 24 spaced marginally from the outer edge of the door of the refrigerator A. It will also be apparent that the only exposed hardware on the refrigerator A is the handle 25 for operating the tongue 21 of the latch look. In

these modern types of refrigerators, every effort has been exerted to make the outer appearance of the refrigerator as neat as pos'sible'and to provide a smooth outer enamelled surface over the entire refrigerator which can be readily cleaned and without the unsightly appearance of projecting hardware. These refrigerators are usually made with enamelled metal coverings and it is also undesirable to attach hardware to the same because it does not match the enamel colors and further, in attaching the same the enamel is apt to be cracked in securing the hardware to the same. There has been a marked tendency to simplify the outer appearance of refrigeratorsand to do this it is necessary to conceal the hardware. In this construction it is important that the hardware has been virtually completely concealed and yet the latch lock, as well as the hinging means is not exposed to the cold zone but is positioned entirely outside of the same and a seal is provided inside of the hinge and lock means of the refrigerator which is continuous and unbroken so that there is no filtration of cold or warm air in this refrigerator from or to the refrigerating chamber I4, With this better sealing means, a better refrigerator has been provided with a very neat and attractive appearance.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, a refrigerator cabinet having inner and outer metallic coverings, a door opening in said cabinet having a flat surface surrounding the same, said outer, covering extending partially over said flat surface, a non-metallic breaker strip connecting said coverings closely adjacent said door opening, a door hinged to said cabinet to overlie said flat surface, inner and outer metallic coverings on said door, a nonmetallic breaker strip between said door coverings, a latch extending through said door and said breaker strip, gasket sealing means between said breaker strips inwardly from said latch, a latch keeper recessed in said outer cabinet covering and in said, flat surface externally of said first mentioned breaker strip, said latch engaging said keeper to hold the door closed.

2. In a refrigerator, a refrigerator cabinet hav ing inner and outer metallic coverings, a door opening said cabinet, said inner and outer coverings arranged in spaced relationship, a non metallic breaker strip connecting said coverings closely, adjacent said vdoor opening, said cabinet and breaker strip providing a substantially flat surface on a substantially common plane sur-.

rounding said door opening, a door hinged to said cabinet to overlie said flat surface, and having a second flat surface to cooperate with said first mentioned flat surface, inner and outer metallic coverings on said door, a non-metallic breaker strip between said door coverings facing said first named flat surface, a latch' extending through said door and said second flat surface externally of, and spaced from, said inner dOOr covering, a latch keeper recessed in said first named flat surface externally of, and in spaced relation to, the inner metallic refrigerator covering, said latch engaging said keeper to hold the door closed, and a gasket means between said flat surfaces inwardly of said latch and keeper to seal said cabinet from said latch and keeper.

ENOCH SWEDMAN. 

